For the first time in two months, there was a live country concert last night.
Not a live stream you watch on your laptop at home on your couch during a quarantine.
But an actual living, breathing, playing kind of thing.
Keith Urban was moved to plan the Nashville show on Thursday night (May 14) to give the country’s first responders a chance to escape the tireless work they’ve been doing, at least for an hour. “To all of you guys here tonight, for everything that you’ve done, and continue to do, to all of your families, we say thank you — this concert is for all of you,” Urban told the crowd from the stage. “I did this to say thanks to the healthcare workers who are putting their lives on the line for us every day.
“And performing in this environment, with everyone in their cars at a safe distance from one another, seems like an amazing opportunity for everybody to just let go and have fun. And I’m a musician, I HAVE TO PLAY!”
The invite-only show was at the Stardust Drive-In Movie Theater in Watertown, Tennessee — just about 40 miles east of Nashville — and was the first time a live show has taken place during a pandemic at a drive-in theater. More than 200 doctors, nurses, emergency medical technicians and staff from Vanderbilt Health were there to watch, and applaud Urban’s show with the honking of their car horns.
It would be cool if other artists followed Urban’s lead, and these kinds of shows could become our new new normal.
Last night’s show was not the first time Urban has gone out of his way to do something good for all the frontliners. Right when the pandemic started, he started playing live Instagram shows from his guitar warehouse at home. “We’re coming to you live from our warehouse. This is where we store all of our gear. We thought we’d just set this up and stream it tonight,” Urban explained back on March 16, “mostly because I was supposed to be playing tonight (in Houston), and I just thought it would be nice to be able to play to anyone.”